[Past]
"We have a new group of munies coming in," A mans voice radiated through the communications in the WICKED compound. "A whole lot from the Right Arm, too. Want us to get rid of them, m'am?"
"No," Dr. Paige immediately said back. "No, not yet. Let me see the subjects first."
"Got it." The man confirmed. "We're only a few hours away now."
Newt, and his little sister Lizzy, were crumpled up in a corner of the burg they had been carelessly thrown into, alongside dozens of other kids. The entire time, Newt had been listening to the mans conversation over the radio with this doctor who he assumed he would be meeting soon. What really caught his attention was the note of something called the Right Arm, and how it seemed like the kids from that place should've been gotten rid of a long time ago. It was like the soldiers were afraid of them. But how could a big soldier with a gun be afraid of a little kid who came from a specified group?
After his little sister fell asleep, Newt looked around the berg at all of the kids in his midst. Some older, some younger, but all terrified nonetheless. To his right was a girl, one just smaller than himself. She was fast asleep on the floor, curled up as tight as humanly possible. However, her arm hung out from the bundle which was her body and Newt took notice to the tattoo freshly inked in her skin. It read 'Right Arm' with a small plunder of flames beneath. She was one of the kids WICKED would have gotten rid of if the Doctor hadn't decided to keep her alive.
Jumping out of his comfort zone, and with nothing to lose, Newt reached over and tapped the girls shoulder. She jolted awake with wide eyes and her fists at the ready to punch anyone who came too close, but soon calmed down when she realized it was only a boy.
Without words, he opened up his right arm along with the blanket that was wrapped around him and Lizzy. He sent a warm smile, offering her a place amongst him and his sister. Tentatively, the girl inched closer, but stopped herself.
Newt's smile faltered. "We're in this together now."
With that, the girl had decided this was someone she could trust. Someone she would stand beside for a long time to come. So, she found herself curled up at his side, his head resting on hers as he fell asleep. No longer did these kids have parents or a home. But, now, they had each other. For Newt to have just one more person at his side other than Lizzy, he felt a hundred times better. Because, he knew that whatever he went through, so would this girl. His mom had always told him that a person should never walk through life alone. Luckily for Newt, he'd found his partner. He didn't know her name yet, but that didn't matter because he just knew.
The three kids woke up when the berg jolted everyone inside around. It had landed god knows where and the guards were already rushing to push all of the kids off and into a massive grey building ahead, half built into the ground. It was like an impenetrable fortress, one Newt feared going inside because he knew there probably wasn't an easy way out. Lost in his stupor staring at the building, he failed to realize his new friend was long gone, having been dragged off by a guard.
After frantically scanning the crowd as he and Lizzy walked, Newt finally caught sight of her. She ran alongside a boy with a dark quiff of hair, the two of them keeping perfect stride with one another. Apparently, she'd already found another friend. That didn't bother Newt though, he'd just find her again later.
Inside, all of the kids were lined up one by one, being scanned with some kind of device. It would go up and down their body before beeping and then a guard would drag them off through a set of doors. Half way down the line, Newt noticed it came to a boy with a Right Arm tattoo. The doctor eyed it with suspicion, but ultimately chose to let him through. Some other kids with the same tattoo weren't so lucky. Where they were taken instead of through those doors, Newt didn't want to know.
When it finally came to the girl Newt met on the berg, he clenched his toes in his shoes. What were they going to decide?
To his very own heart break, the doctor shook her head. Newt wasn't going to let that be her final decision.
"No!" Newt cried, stepping out of line, away from his sister. Which, for Newt, was a wildly bold move. "Not her!"
"Interesting," The doctor hummed. She looked between the girl and Newt and then smiled. Slowly, she lowered down to her knees where she held out an inviting hand to Newt. He walked towards her but didn't take it. "You two must know one another?"
"Well, sort of." Newt whimpered. Y/N looked completely stunned.
"I'll have a special job for you two once you get settled." She motioned for Y/N to step forwards as well. "You two might just be our most promising subjects."
A quick nod was all it took for the guards to come rushing at the girl and Newt, taking them by the shoulders.
"But m'am," A man which Newt would have compared to a rat spoke up. "We don't know if the boy is imm—"
"I can already tell," She sighed, scanning over Newt's features. There were heavy bags under his eyes and he was sickly looking. That already told her he was one of those not immune. "But we need him. These two need one another."
The way she said it made the girl with Newt question what her intentions really were. Was she just saying that to comfort them? Or did they really need one another? Whatever it was, it didn't matter now. Because Newt had spoken up, both of them were going to live to see another day. Living in here, with whatever was ahead of them, was better than being thrown back outside like stray dogs.
It was a few days before Newt saw anyone again. Turns out, it was the same for all of the kids. Sometime in the afternoon, the guards threw all of the kids into the hallway and herded them towards a large cafeteria. Inside, groups began to form at tables, but Newt wasn't sure where to go. He'd always struggled making friends and breaking into new groups of people, and standing here left him paralyzed. Lizzy was nowhere to be seen and he began to panic.
Suddenly, someone rammed into him from behind. He turned to see a familiar head of hair rearing back in the direction from which she'd been shoved by someone. Her fist whizzed through the air right towards a boys face, actually, it was that boy from the Right Arm, the one Newt had seen the day they arrived. However, before the girls fist could meet its mark, the boy with the dark quiff of hair caught her arm midair.
"Don't do it!" He warned in a rather high pitched voice. "He's not worth it."
"Yeah, well, he's the reason we got captured! Isn't that right Ja—Gally?!" Y/N screamed. Newt noticed how she'd hesitated on the name. It was probably because she was having a hard time adjusting to the new name protocol. The boys name had probably been something like Jack or Jacob, and now he was Gally.
Newt could care less about his name. It was just a name, not who he was. But, it would still take some adjusting to. Plus, he'd never forget his sisters real name. Calling her by anything else just wouldn't feel right.
The dark haired boy grabbed the girls shoulders and starting leading her towards a nearby, vacant table. Passing by, she nearly ran into Newt, causing her to look up. At first her eyes were full of rage, but the moment they locked on his own eyes, they seemed to melt. "It's you!" She cried.
All of the sudden, Newt found himself in a warm embrace. The girl broke free and grabbed his hand, bringing him to sit down beside her.
"This is Minho, by the way. He's uh—-" She drew a blank.
"A friend?" He laughed. "Who're you?" He eyed Newt.
"I'm Newt." He choked on his words.
The girl smiled and nodded before coming to a realization. "Oh, and I'm Y/N."
"So..." Newt mumbled. "What's gonna happen?"
"No one knows," Minho sighed. "We just gotta look out for ourselves right now. We've got a good alliance going between the three of us, but keep a lookout for new recruits."
It was like someone had heard Minho was looking for more members of his secret alliance because a dark skinned boy, taller and broader than the rest sat down across from them. "Hey guys, mind if we join you? All of the other tables are full."
"Sure man," Minho said. "What's your name?"
"I'm Alby." He smiled. "And, this is Chuck." A smaller, round faced boy with curly hair popped out from behind Alby.
"Hi Chuck," Y/N welcomed him warmly.
"Ever notice you're the only girl in here?" Chuck scrunched his face and tilted his head. Y/N along with the others took a second to look up and scan the room. Sure enough, she was the only girl. What did this mean? Was she put with the wrong group? Was there a mess up?
Newt put a hand on Y/N's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. We've got you covered."
"Ha!" Minho stifled a laugh. "She doesn't need anyone to look after her. She'll be the one protecting us if we get in a fight."
"So, how about we avoid a fight all together? Sound good?" Chuck pleaded.
"Sure," Alby laughed, ruffling Chuck's hair.
Y/N looked over to Newt once the other boys were lost in conversation with a curious expression. "I wonder if it has anything to do with what the doctor said?"
"It might." He shrugged. "What do you think they're planning?"
"I don't want to know," Y/N huffed nervously. "But we're in this together. We'll be okay. Plus, I can almost guarantee whatever they're planning is far worse than anything we could imagine."
That mere thought nearly made Newt sick on the spot. She was right in saying that as long as they had one another, they would be alright. It was still hard to stomach the idea that these doctors had something special planned for them though, especially since it was pretty obvious it would have something to do with the flare. Even the name of the disease sent shivers down his spine.
"Can't worry about it now, can we?" He finally spoke up, his brows furrowed together.
"Guess not... but—"
"What if they turn us into aliens?!" Newt broke the tense, negative energy and immediately made the girl smile by reaching out his arms and drooping his face. "Or, what if all they want us for is...our...our...toes?!
"Toes?" Minho gagged. "Why would they want your stinky toes, man? That's nasty."
Y/N laughed even harder at Newt's complete nonsense, and soon Chuck and Alby joined in. Minho thought this scrawny blonde friend of Y/N's was a nutcase based on first impressions, but he was beginning to like him.
"You never know!" Newt said back.
"Hmm, they must want me for my good looks then." Minho flashed his brows at Y/N and she yet again laughed.
In such a miserable and uncertain situation, this group of kids was making it work. They'd found comfort in one another and that just enough for them to keep their hopes up.